And rust to rust: Marsh creatures

Posted: Sept. 30, 2006

Dennis McCann E-MAIL

Marshfield - I will tell you this story of Jurustic Park as honestly and truthfully as I can, just as it was told to me honestly and truthfully by Clyde Wynia, paleontologist. It says so right on his business card. I will acknowledge up front there is a hint of tall in the tale he tells, but to measure his credibility you should also know that before he became a paleontologist he was for many years a lawyer.

And lawyers, like newspapermen, can not say things that are not true.

So, where to begin?

At the beginning. Clyde and his wife, Nancy, an artist, live just outside of Marshfield at the edge of the large McMillan Marsh. About 13 years ago, one of Wynia's neighbors spotted an odd, rust-colored creature hanging in a tree and asked about it. Without a moment's hesitation Wynia explained that he had found the creature in the McMillan Marsh, and so Jurustic Park had its first inhabitant.

But hardly last. Wynia took to paleontology like an offensive lineman takes to lunch and today there are hundreds of creatures on his land, amazing creatures, fantastical and frightening, creatures little and big with goggling eyes and wagging tails and terrifying teeth, often - as creatures are wont - without pants. Those are the friendly ones.

Jurustic Park Photo/Dennis McCann Rustic creatures abound in Clyde Wynia's Jurustic Park. Photo/Dennis McCann Clyde Wynia explains how he uncovered this peculiar creature.

They are not, he points out, dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were extinct millions of years ago. These creatures that lived in the marsh during the Iron Age likely were done in by the effects of acid rain that accelerated rusting and because they were over-harvested by unthinking humans and stripped of their parts for farm and industrial tools. It is a service he performs, then, excavating their rust-pitted remains and exhibiting them to the public as a reminder of the delicate dance that separates life from death.

A rare breed

I wrote this all down just as Clyde told it to me as we walked among the creatures one fine fall day, past Oxide, the once merciless attack dog, and Frog Eater, a tall sort of being that sustained itself on the abundant marsh frog, which is represented in large numbers in Jurustic Park's population. Fast Eddy Biscotti was a Norwegian gunfighter in the marsh in the 1800s and still wears a dangerous look in his cadaverous eye, at least if you don't know that he lost his final duel when he became distracted by the other duelist's cleavage, which is another lesson for us all.

I learned so much on that tour. Who knew that the sprawling marsh had once been home to the Turtle Shelled Birddog, a rare example of inter-species cross-breeding. After extensive paleontological research, Wynia has concluded that a large marsh turtle emerged from the water one long ago day, had a liaison with a wild dog and later on the same day a large ostrich-like bird, resulting in a single creature with the genes of all three species. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, it is sterile, and there will never be another.

Similarly, Wynia has looked into the history of the marsh mouse, which has a projection on its nose like a cutting torch. Of course there was no acetylene back then, but Wynia's theory is they could pump their little bodies full of swamp gas and thus use their noses to cut up their enemies. This caused a number of fires in the marsh and no small amount of flatulence, but no one ever said nature was always pretty.

As Jurustic Park grew through the years, word got out and visitors came to marvel at Clyde's menagerie, at the indecisive birds known as Ambivatrons, at Big Chomp and the Gardening Angel, especially at the creature that can't help but remind visitors of Janet Jackson, even visitors from other countries who speak no other words of English.

Art or craft?

They come by the carful and by the busload, maybe 15,000 visitors in the last year from as many as 26 countries to walk through Jurustic Park and hear Clyde's story. A woman at the Chamber of Commerce told him that after the adjacent Foxfire Gardens, a beautiful spot that draws its own thousands of visitors, Clyde's junk yard was the second most popular tourist attraction in Marshfield.

Yes, she said junk yard. That smarted. So did the "When Lawyers Go Bad" headline in a book that featured his creatures. Wynia is used to skeptics and those who ask whether it is art or craft or just what. "Science, is what it is," he said. Maybe if he got rid of all the welding equipment there would be fewer doubters, but it wasn't my place to tell a scientist how to run his lab.

A little understanding

I lingered for a time after my tour of Clyde's creatures and of his wife's studio, called Hobbit House, making notes and taking pictures. It was clear that Wynia's late life conversion to paleontology had advanced our understanding of a little-known time and place, but I couldn't help but hope he has kept his license to practice law as well. I know if I am ever caught red-handed doing something illegal, I would want Clyde Wynia explaining an alternate truth to the judge.

Jurustic Park is four miles north of Marshfield. Take Highway E off Highway 97 and go three and a half miles to Sugarbush Lane, turn left and look for the sign. There is no admission charge. For more, visit www.jurustic.com or call (715) 387-1653.